Issue 27

Back in issue 26 we mislabeled a chicken (right) - calling it an Orpington when clearly, to any chicken-fancier worth their salt, it was no such breed. We put the question of the chicken's identity to you, our readers, (with the bribe of a bottle of wine) and got some very amusing responses.

Here's the winning letter, plus others that we liked but didn't have room for in the magazine - in no particular pecking order.

Hi,

That spunky chook is in fact a Barred Plymouth Rock.

Best chook story has to come from my childhood, my mum was an avid chook person and they were dear to her heart.

When her favourite chook was mauled by one of our farm dogs it was left without many feathers but still very much alive.  My mum sewed a pink knitted baby vest (it had been mine) on to that chook and it wore it for months till its feathers grew back.  I have no idea what the other chooks much have thought of their vested friend but my mums innovative approach no doubt saved it from death by cold.  

Linda

* Linda receives a bottle of wine

This chicken is a Barred Plymouth Rock breed and has its origins from American breeding in the middle of the 19th century. This Breed became very popular and was the most commonly used breed until World War II. This was due to its qualities as an outstanding farm chicken: hardiness, docility, broodiness, and excellent production of both eggs and meat.. The Barred Plymouth Rock was one of the foundation breeds for the broiler industry in the 1920's, and the White Rock continues to be used as the female side of the commercial broiler cross.

Events worth noting around the country

Words: Ann Warnock

Cloud9

29 August to 29 November, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu

This shimmering show by nine contemporary New Zealand artists is themed with strange dreams and celestial structures. It is the fourth instalment in an emerging-artist series staged by the gallery and features new work by recent graduates Elliot Collins, Ruth Thomas Edmond, Tim Thatcher, Telly Tu’u, Georgie Hill, Marie Le Lievre, Pete Wheeler, Mike Cooke and Eileen Leung. The works explore new directions in painting techniques and celebrate a genre which has the ability to transport the viewer to another realm.

Phone (03) 941 7300, www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz

New Zealand Opera – Eugene Onegin

17 to 26 September, Auckland and 10 to 17 October, Wellington

An international cast and cutting-edge creative team light up the stage with Tchaikovsky’s great opera of honour, love, death and regret. Set in 19th-century Russia and based on Alexander Pushkin’s novel, Eugene Onegin packs dramatic and visual punch. New Zealand soprano Anna Leese stars as Tatyana alongside British baritone William Dazeley. Leading Russian conductor Alexander Polianichko, based at St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, takes the podium. Phone (09) 379 4068 or (04) 499 8343, www.nzopera.com

Hollywood’s Ancient World

6pm to 8pm, Wednesdays 16, 23, 30 September and 7 October, Pipitea Campus, Victoria University, Wellington

Health is the new wealth. Here are some suggestions for building a portfolio of long-term good-health investments.

Active aphrodisiac

Fancy sparking up your sex life? It could all be in the foods you eat. Some will give you a fillip, others could give you, well, the flop.

According to the nutritional experts at Men’s Health, you can forget the oysters. Libido-upping foods include dark chocolate (causes the body to release feel-good endorphins), a small steak (the protein boosts sensitivity-heightening chemicals), vanilla ice cream (the calcium and phosphorus it contains boost energy and libido), blueberries (they relax blood vessels and improve blood flow), watermelon (contains citrulline, a kind of natural Viagra) and a glass of wine (it really is a relaxant).

Small amounts are recommended; too much of any of them is likely to make you heavy which is proven to put you off sex.

Good nut

Almonds have many virtues: they are high in protein, fibre, calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E and other antioxidants. They help lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

They also contain prebiotics which stimulate good bacteria in the gut and fight the bad.

Cosmetic concerns

Dark circles under the eyes can be disguised with concealer. Pallid-looking nails can be covered with varnish and puffiness is often put down to water retention. But each of these seemingly innocuous beauty worries can be a sign of something more serious. Here’s a list of commonly overlooked cosmetic concerns.

Thank you for all your letters. We read them all and try to publish as many as possible, including the four below which we couldn’t squeeze into the magazine. The writers each receive a Green & Black’s chocolate hamper with all six flavours of Green & Black’s, including the delicious new organic butterscotch. Yum!

Nailing it

I AM WRITING to share the feedback I’ve had since keeping NZ Life and Leisure in my beauty therapy clinic. I have been a huge fan of your magazine from the beginning so it was a natural choice for the selection we offer our customers while they are have their nails done or relaxing in our reception area.  Of the several publications we provide, NZ Life and Leisure is the most read and I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard “What a great magazine!  Is it new?  Where can I get a copy?” It’s great to be able to share such a positive and inspiring magazine with our customers and it also helps that you often include fascinating features on Northland and Far North personalities. Keep it up!

Jodi Osborne, Doubtless Beauty, Mangonui

Words by Bette Flagler.

It seems as if just about everything has one eco-label or another plastered on to it. While some labelling is mandatory (for example, the New Zealand government requires appliances to be rated through the Energy Star scheme described previously), most is optional. Even so, company claims must comply with the Fair Trading Act.

Last December the Commerce Commission released its Guidelines for Green Marketing so that businesses understand their obligations for accuracy and usefulness when labelling products “green”. Among other things, the guidelines state that claims must be accurate, specific, written in plain language and able to be substantiated. In addition, claims must not overstate a benefit.

Five fashion tips... for making that wardrobe work.

Get a grip. It isn’t rocket science... if you open your wardrobe and clothes and shoes fall out in a disorderly jumble, it’s going to be a bit stressful getting dressed in the morning. Being organised is one-part effort, two-parts routine. Begin by grouping your clothes and accessories into categories – skirts, dresses, pants etc. Now either chuck out or recycle anything you haven’t worn in the past year. Separate the remaining items into summer/winter and pack away the winter woollies. Hang the items in groups – skirts on one rack, blouses on another. Ensure dresses and coats have enough space to fall properly and that your shoes are tidily lined up or stacked. That’s the exertion part over, now the routine. It’s just a case of hanging clothes up each night on the same hanger you removed them from; shoes go back in the same space. If garments aren’t wedged in, you can wash and iron them safe in the knowledge that your domestic efforts won’t be wasted once you’ve put them away.

Don’t buy too many shoes. Unless you have a house big enough for special shoe storage, you’re going to be packing your stilettos away in boxes. Once out of sight, you will no doubt forget about them. Spend as much as you can afford on a new pair of quality shoes each season and wear them to death. Good shoes do make an outfit and no one – including you – is going to get sick of the sight of a splendid pair. 

Beauty editor Tracey Strange picks a few standout men’s fragrances for Father’s Day.

Clockwise from top left: YSL La Nuit De L’Homme, $107 l Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme, $111 l Shiseido Zen For Men, $95 l Narciso Rodriguez For Him, $105 l Prada Amber Pour Homme, $99 l Baldessarini Del Mar, $96 l Terre d’Hermès, $113.

If men only truly understood the power of fragrance, they would be splashing it on as regularly as they flick the toothpaste lid. Research by the Kinsey Institute proves that while men might be initially attracted to the way a woman looks; women can fall in love at the first whiff. Fragrance, and not just the smell of skin, is far more compelling for women when it comes to sexual attraction.

Men might not be that quick to notice the power of perfume but it hasn’t escaped those beauty companies involved with male grooming products. Many aim their marketing at women almost as much as men. The result has been a huge increase in cologne sales and a rush of new fragrance releases over the past year or so.

So, just in time for Father’s Day, here’s our pick of some of the best.

YSL La Nuit De L’Homme, $107

THE RECESSION has brought out the worst in some of us. Maybe that should be rephrased as the recession was brought on by the worst in some of us. We really did think that we were entitled to everything. We thought we needed so much: so many consumer items. They were essential, weren’t they? That has proved, globally as well as in our country, to be a dangerous philosophy in a macro sense and a shallow one in a personal sense.

While we certainly don’t claim to have been blameless in our private lives in the great grab for more goods, we can say that this magazine, NZ Life & Leisure, has never been about possessions. It is about how people live, what they believe in, what gets them up every morning, what makes them tick and what they feel passionate about.

“NZ Life & Leisure is about goals larger than individual aggrandizement and personal possessions.” This has been our mantra from the beginning. It was established on the premise that anyone under retirement age is among the luckiest ever to stalk the planet Earth. No world wars. No plagues. No pestilences, thanks to the remarkable development of preventive medicines such as vaccines and antibiotics. Full employment and a welfare state have been paid for by an economy driven predominantly by farming and tourism.

Compiled by Tracey Strange

Bello bellissimo

If you’re in the market for treasures, take a look at the beautiful mouth-blown and handmade Bollen range of glasses. Founded 20 years ago in Amsterdam, Bollen is a small family company which uses centuries-old methods to create the type of exquisite glassware you might see in paintings by Dutch old masters such as Vermeer or Rembrandt. You’ll find Bollen in New Zealand at Wellington’s Bello Traders (04) 385 0058.

Heartfelt

Leanne and Brian Culy aren’t new to NZ Life & Leisure. Their cute-and-quirky Haumoana beach house was featured in Issue 23 and our sister publication NZ House & Garden recently covered their Napier homestead, Balquhidder House. It’s testament to the artistic talents of the couple who together own Home Base Collections, a design company producing an ever-changing range of fabrics, greeting cards, art and homewares. It’s well worth checking them out at www.homebasecollections.co.nz

• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 rasher streaky bacon, finely diced
• 2 large handfuls watercress or baby
• spinach
• 3 eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• grinds of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon feta, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon mozzarella, grated
• To serve: juice of ½ lemon

Heat butter in a frypan and sizzle bacon until starting to crisp. Add half the greens and stir over heat until wilted, about 30 seconds. Lightly whisk eggs, season with salt and pepper and mix in feta. 

Pour into pan, tilting to spread egg  evenly. Loosen a couple of times with a knife or spatula at the start of cooking to allow raw egg to go to the base of the pan.

As mixture sets, sprinkle with mozzarella and top with rest of greens. Cook until set, another minute, then fold in half. Squeeze over lemon juice and serve. Serves 1 as a main meal.